Recent Posts
The ultimate guide to wedding-day underwear
Over the years since we've been making slinky, wedding dresses and have built up a dossier of tried and tested tips for perfect wedding underwear, as recommended by our very own brides. (Warning: what follows isn’t always pretty – but it works). Read the extract from a special article we wrote for the Guardian to help with your underwear shopping!
1. Match your skin tone, not your dress
If you are wearing something slinky, don’t get hung up on whether bridal underwear is “beautiful” or not – it probably won’t be. Above all, it needs to be functional, in a neutral colour match to your skin tone. Even ivory on pale skin can give a strobe-light effect and show through bias-cut dresses. Often, a dress is so figure-hugging that the only thing that is going to work is an all in one Spanx from right underneath the breasts. There’s nothing pretty or sexy about this kit, but it works. You can change into something more flattering for your wedding night if need be.
2. Pretty details are not your friend
A satin bow will always show. One bride I designed for found a fine lace pair of knickers that matched her skin tone and thought they were invisible – until her groom pointed out the satin bow at the top, which showed through her dress.
3. ‘Tit tape’ has many uses
If you’re going backless, try a backless bra with sticky wings, such as the Fashions Forms Go Bare Backless Strapless Bra, Black. They do work – but test them out first. One bride found a great strapless bra with not quite enough stickiness, so she covered every last millimetre of the inside of the cups in tit tape (double-sided tape for the body) as insurance. This is not an entirely glamorous story: the bra stuck to her skin so firmly that it took two bridesmaids to remove it when she tested it out, but it worked on the day.
4. Alterations aren’t just for your dress
If you wish your bra was just a bit lower at the back, or don’t think it is going to stay up on its own, it is easy to alter it or stitch it into your dress. One bride I designed for took a shapewear slip, attached it to a bra with stick on tabs at the side, and had the back of the bra altered and lowered. Then she attached extra long white bra straps to the top. Admittedly, getting undressed afterwards was a bit of a mission.
5. Size matters
This might be seem obvious point, but make sure you buy the right size knickers. Don’t be precious about it – going one size bigger than usual might help avoid bulging. But also be careful you don’t go too big, as I have heard of a bride who managed to lose her pants walking down the aisle. (Nb. Eagle-eyed bridesmaids are essential.)
6. Allow yourself a lot of time to select the right underwear
This means trying out underwear at your dress fittings – not rushing out to buy it afterwards – and standing near the window during fittings so you are getting natural daylight to spot any lines. You should also take pictures of yourself from different angles to ensure flash photography won’t ruin the illusion.
7. Going commando is always an option
If you want support but can’t find anything that doesn’t leave a visible line, you can always find a pair of seamless shapewear tights and chop off the feet and part of the legs. If you don’t need underwear for support then don’t bother wearing any – that’s one way to avoid the lines showing. In that case, do prepare for any weather, especially if you are not wearing a bra. Even summer evenings get chilly, and no one needs to see that much of the bride.
Read the full article here and recommendations of underwear our brides have recommended.
